And all our asses would more than likely have ended up in jail.
“Anyway, I need to return what you gave me,” he said. “It’s not right for me to keep it, since I didn’t do the job.”
“That’s noble of you.”
He chuckled. “I learned some scruples from you, Prin— Shaw.” Then his voice dropped an octave. “You were the only one who didn’t write me off as a kid.”
“Maybe I should have. It didn’t seem to help.”
“On the contrary, man. On the contrary. Anyway, I hope your little boy gets well soon.”
He hung up before I could respond. That was unexpected. And bizarre. As I walked into the hotel, I checked the room number Anne sent me. I made a beeline for the elevator, held it for a woman with a suitcase, and we made the ride in silence. I got out before her.
I knocked, and the door opened. Had she been standing there, waiting for me? I stared at her, emotions slamming me in the gut, but none of them was of the desire I’d felt for her when we’d met. She'd seemed so charming and beautiful then. I’d been so smitten with her, stoked about having a beauty like her in my life.
I’d been such a fool, but I couldn’t regret my time with her. Then I wouldn’t have met Ari.
“Shaw, you’re here. Come on in.”
She stepped aside for me to enter, then closed the door. I still didn’t say anything to her. The words couldn’t come. My mind sorted through the tirade that threatened to spill from my lips.
“We can talk in here.”
She’d rented a suite that had a nice sitting room. On the coffee table stood two glasses and a bottle of wine. What was she up to now? I paid attention to her for the first time and did a double take. She was wearing a deep purple silk robe loosely tied around her slender waist. When she turned to me, the slit at the front widened, showing off her long, shapely leg.
Unbelievable.
“Why are you here?” I asked past the knot in my throat.
“Well.” She poured the wine and held a glass out to me, but when I didn’t take it, she put it back on the coffee table and sat, crossing one leg over the other. The slit showed her leg up to midthigh now. “When the police called me to ask about Ken and Ari, I learned what happened. Why didn’t you call me?”
“I thought you didn’t care.”
“I might not understand the boy, but that doesn’t mean I want to see him dead.”
“He’s not going to die!” The words came out sharp and biting. She startled, and wine splashed onto her robe.
“I suppose he won’t, but let’s face it, Shaw. The boy belongs in the nuthouse. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.” She downed her glass and stood. “Now you know I was right all along. You can’t ignore it anymore, Shaw. He brought this on himself. He—”
I saw red. Her long fingernails raking down my arm pushed the cloudy haze away and revealed her shocked face, turning red from my hand around her throat, choking her.
I should let her go, but a sense of calm stole over me.
“You cruel, heartless bitch,” I spat at her. “You don’t care about anyone else but yourself. You never have. Ari didn’t bring this on himself. You did.” I shook her, and her head lolled around like that of a ragdoll. “You sent him to live with a man who wasn’t his father, just to get him out of the picture. Do you have any idea what you subjected him to because of your petty jealousy? You ruined that boy. How can you live with yourself for destroying his life?”
Her face turned a bright shade of red, and her eyes widened. “Sh-aw, pl-ease,” she choked out. “Can’t breathe.”
“Every time he was raped by that son of a bitch, you did it,” I said through clenched teeth. “Every bruise on his body, you inflicted. It’s all because of you. You’re the real monster here.”
Just a little longer. If I held on just for a little longer, I would remove her permanently from Ari’s life. But to what end? It would be too suspicious if she turned up dead now. It wouldn’t help Ari. What he needed right now was stability, love, care, and the guidance and approval he’d always craved from me.
I shoved her away from me, and she fell onto the couch, grasping her throat and half sobbing, half coughing trying to catch her breath.
“You need to get on a plane and go back to wherever the hell you came from,” I said. “And I’d be praying that Ari pulls through all right because if he doesn’t, Anne, there’ll be hell to pay.”
She regarded me, her eyes full of fear. “What has he done to you?” she rasped.
“He made me realize that I’ll do anything — and I mean anything — to protect him.”
I turned on my heels.
“You deserve him,” she called after me. “I hope he turns your life into a living hell.”
I spun around and pinned her with a glower. She pulled her feet up under her body and tried to make herself as small as possible on the sofa.
“That’s fine. I’d rather go through hell with him than live without him in it.”